By Steve Kim
Saturday night from the Galen Center on the campus of USC, Abner Mares (30-2-1, 15KOs) captured a version of the WBA featherweight title by out-pointing Jesus Cuellar over 12 rounds. Mares, who hadn't fought since August of 2015 (where he lost to Leo Santa Cruz), now finds himself right back in the mix at 126.
And Ringstar Sports CEO Richard Schaefer, who promoted this event which was televised by Showtime, believes there are big fights to be made all over this division.
"I think all the fights are makeable these days. There's so many good match-ups there. I wouldn't mind having him fight the winner of (Carl) Frampton-(Leo) Santa Cruz or unifying with (IBF champion) Lee Selby. So there's a lot of great fights out there," said Schaefer.
Frampton and Santa Cruz who battled back in the summer - with Frampton coming out victorious in what was a heated 12-rounder - are scheduled to meet again on January 28th in Las Vegas.
Frampton holds the WBA's "super" version of the featherweight title. As the sanctioning body continues to consolidate their world titles, theoretically it's very possible that the winner of that rematch will be ordered to face Mares in the near future - as the WBA was previously planning to order the winner to face Cuellar prior to losing the title.
The featherweight division also includes the likes of Gary Russell, who holds the WBC title, and Oscar Valdez, who is the WBO belt-holder. Mares, Selby, Frampton, Santa Cruz and Russell are all advised by Al Haymon and fight under the Premier Boxing Champions banner.
"The good news is that you can pretty much mix and match and these styles are like made for each other and there's not one boring guy in that division. They all come to fight. Abner belongs right in that mix," said Schaefer.
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.
